China is seeking greater access to U.S. aircraft carriers and guidance on how to operate its own first carrier, the Liaoning, testing the limits of a newly cooperative military relationship the two sides have tried to cultivate in the past year.

BAE Systems is betting it can secure more Typhoon combat jet as well as naval orders this year to underpin a rebound in full-year earnings before impairment charges after they fell 12% last year amid cutbacks in military spending.

The U.S. Navy is considering a plan to regularly dock warships in Australia and would like to broaden yearly maritime exercises with India to permanently include close regional allies Japan and Australia, in an expansion of security ties that could risk exacerbating strategic rivalries with China.